MADISON — The Nurses of Wisconsin are nursing associations that have come together to inform the public about the importance of mask wearing. Wisconsin’s hospitals have less than 10% of beds available to provide care. Patients in Wisconsin are receiving extensive nursing care for treatment of their COVID diagnosis and\or significant complications related to chronic diseases due to six months of lack of contact with their primary care provider.

Unfortunately, the supply of nurses is dwindling, nurses are out of work due to COVID or they are in quarantine because of exposure. “Nurses are losing their resilience which means their health and wellbeing is at risk”, states Gina Dennik-Champion, RN, and Executive Director of the Wisconsin Nurses Association. Dennik-Champion shared that the impact of continuous high-tech and high-touch patient care demands are resulting in feeling overwhelmed, anxious, inability to relax and achieve restful sleep. Nurses want to spend more quality time with their family, and they are worried about bringing COVID into the home and exposing to their family.

The Nurses of Wisconsin want the public to wear a mask because it makes a difference. Evidence shows that wearing a mask protects the individual, protects the person’s community and protects nurses.

As cited by the Center for Disease Control, asymptomatic or presymptomatic persons are estimated to account for more than 50% of transmissions. This study concluded that individual benefit increases with increasing community mask use.

Wisconsin needs everyone to wear a mask to stop this COVID surge. The Nurses of Wisconsin organizations follow the science and supports the use of face coverings in the fight against COVID-19 and to save lives in Wisconsin.